July 25, 2015 “The ‘Do Bees’ “

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.” (Psalm 100:4)

Good Morning Everyone!

Today, I’d like to take a long trip (at least for me) back to my preschool days. Back in those days, before I started attending kindergarten, my mother would allow me the luxury of watching a couple of my favorite television shows especially geared for preschool students…”Romper Room” and “Ding Dong School.” I wonder how many of you remember those shows? ” Among other things relating to reading and writing skills, basic lessons on proper behavior were featured on these shows. One such lesson I remember enjoying because it was always set to music was a segment on the aforementioned “Romper Room Show” called “Do Bee and Don’t Bee”. There would be a picture of a smiling cartoon bee and a frowning cartoon bee and a song teaching children lessons on politeness and proper behavior. Often, these lessons would teach the importance of saying “thank you” when someone said or did something kind for you. Of course, most of us learned the importance of that from our parents and still teach it to our children. It is, after all, a basic lesson in proper decorum.

Thanks and the importance of thankfulness expressed to our good and gracious Lord is emphasized throughout scripture. In fact, there are at least 73 mentions of the word “thanks” in scripture, and to those 73, you may also add additional references to “thanksgiving” “thankful” and “thankfulness”, and discover literally hundreds of references. This tells me that the Lord’s “Do Bees'” do well to develop such a discipline to the point that it becomes a daily characteristic. In fact, the Psalmist directs us to “enter his gates with thanksgiving”. “Entering his gates” means to approach him, as we do in prayer, with thanksgiving. A good spiritual discipline is to begin every prayer with thanksgiving, for God is worthy. American author Alice Walker, best known for penning the book “The Color Purple”, wrote this about prayer and thanksgiving:

“Thank you” is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.”

This morning, as you “enter his gates” with prayer, begin with a word of thanks. Consider the characteristics Alice Walker so eloquently and accurately delineated of such thanks: (1) Extreme gratitude; (2) humility; (3) understanding. Who is more worthy of such than the loving Lord who fashioned us, blessed us, and redeemed us? No one! “Give thanks to Him, bless His name.” Let’s pray!

No one, O Lord, is more worthy of our thanksgiving and praise than You. As I enter into your divine presence in this new day, I do so with a thankful heart for your grace, mercy, and forgiveness. What a privilege it is for me to have free access to your Throne of Grace and to lift up my morning prayer. How just, how merciful, how abundant in grace you are, my Lord. Thank tou, my Lord and my God. Amen!